I've never been good at keep a training log online. I used to keep on on paper a few years ago, and online seems so easy but I havne't been doin it.

So here it goes.

I'm training for another bodybuilding ocmpetition. It's coming up on April 22nd (Earth Day) in Portland Oregon. How appropriate, a Vegan Bodybuilder gets on stage to defend his title from winning last year on Earth Day in the city that was voted the #1 Vegan-Friendly city in the United States!

That will boost the motivation a bit.

Recently I've been applying some tips from Daywalker, VeganEssentials, Jonathan and others as I prepare for this contest. I'm lifting heavier (heavy for me) and it feels pretty good.

I'm at work right now but today I'm training arms, and shoulders, maybe a little bit of abs too.

Lately some of my best lifts have been:

Flat bench = 245 pounds 4 reps

Decline bench = 250 pounds 4 reps

Leg Press = 740 pounds 4 reps

Lat Pull-Down = 200 pounds 8 reps

I don't have an exact program I'm following right now, nothing like it used to be. I used to have everything planned out to the minute. Lately I've been training on instinct, sometimes spending 2 hours in the gym, other times just an hour.

I'm just trying to prepare myself to compete and keep it pretty low stress since I have tons of other things going on.

I hammered the triceps pretty hard tonight because I missed it last night. I spent 2 hours in the gym yesterday with shoulders and biceps and never made it to triceps.

Today I spent another 2 hours in the gym hitting triceps, abs, and a little back, along with some cardio before and after training.

The reason I'm hitting the gym for 2 hours at a time these days is because I'm getting ready to compete and I need to incorporate a little more cardio into my sessions and I'm doing multiple muscle group training sessions. I normally just do one muscle group, such as just chest for the whole workout. Now I'm doing 2 or 3 muscle groups per training session and it seems to be going well.

Tomorrow I think I'll hit the legs again, assuming they have fully recovered from last Friday I think it was. I'm not allowing a full 7 days for recovery these days, just 3-5 days and hit it again.

Last night I trained Legs. It was brutal. I think I even cried a little, but I'm not sure. I did a bit of wimpering. I was doing less weight than normal but using great, deep range of motion. It was awesome!

Since I compete in less than 6 weeks, I'm holding off on squats until I finish the contest. They won't change much in 5 1/2 weeks and I just want to stay injury free. I haven't done squats in a couple of years, so it is best to re-introduce them to myself after April 22nd.

So I did about 8 sets of leg press, including a couple sets of narrow stance which was painful. Then I did 4 sets of hacksquats, and 5 or 6 sets of hamstring curls, 8 sets of single leg-leg extensions, and then 5 sets of calf raises. Then I rode the bike for 13 minutes.

I'm spending 2 hours at a time in the gym and I was there 5 of the last 6 days. So I feel pretty good about that. I'm pounding my body pretty hard but trying to get in shape for competition!

I'll start taking photos soon.

Just like last year, I'm increasing in bodyweight as I get closer to the contest, which is almost unheard of....most people drop 20 pounds or more for the competition but I like to continue to bulk and rely on my year-round conditioning.

Today was Chest and Back. I know, somewhat of a strange combination but it works for me.

I got up to 255 lbs on the flat and decline bench, but did not get a good solid rep. I had Big Ben spotting for me. I handled 235lbs just fine and then jumped to 255 going for a 1 rep max PR, but didn't quite get it. So then I tried that weight again for decline and didn't quite get it on my own either.

Big Ben by the way, is benching over 400 pounds. But my 250 feels pretty good since I weigh 180 at the moment.

I hit chest for about an hour and 10 minutes and then back for a good 35 minutes, and I called it a night. I did some posing before I left and then headed off to the grocery store.

It was a pretty powerfull workout and I came home to have two tofu sandwiches and a builder bar by Clif.

I took 3 days off from the gym Friday, Saturday and Sunday, because I was working a ton of hours and out of town for VegFest in Portland. I barely made it back tonight because I was again in Portland all day. I got to the gym at 10PM just in time for a full 1-hour workout until the gym closed.

I got right to it and trained chest the whole time. It looked something like this:

I have no problem spending 2 hours at the gym, but I usually do 2 (sometimes 3) major muscle groups, but don't work them long.

It looks like you're doing pretty good. Wow, 700+ lbs on a leg press. The best Leg press machine I ever had was in High School, and I did 515 (Max) lbs for 25 reps (On a bet), I wish I could have had one that did more weight, 'ya know? I would love to see some pictures though, it sounds like you're doing really well.

Rob, do you monitor your calories when getting ready for competition, or do you just up the greens and the "quality" of your calories?

Another solid chest workout yesterday. Only 3 weeks away from my contest, so starting to get nervous a bit. I'm a little behind schedule due to business and other projects, but I think I'll be ready come contest day.

I seem to look smaller in photos, more of a fitness model, than bodybuilder, but I hope to pull off both looks

I'm also getting into the strong man lifting so I will be packing on muscle soon.

I hit back pretty hard last night. I did about 8 sets of pull-ups, 5 sets of lat-pull downs, 3 sets of 1 arm dumbbell rows, 6 sets of T-bar rows, and 4 sets of machine rows. I also did some abdominal training.

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